The thermometer keeps rising. Like other countries in the northern hemisphere, France has been hit by a new heat wave. Absolute heat records were recorded on Tuesday, July 18th Wednesday, July 19, in the south of the country, in the Alps, in the Pyrenees and in Corsica, Météo-France announced. Thursday is likely to be hot again, with weather services forecasting temperatures above 35C in parts of the country, with peaks of 40C in the Var. Extreme heat exacerbated by global warming.

>> Heatwave in Europe: Follow the latest information in our live stream

The south of the country is particularly affected. On Tuesday, the thermometer exceeded 40°C in Verdun (Ariège) with 40.6°C, in Serralongue (Pyrénées-Orientales) with 40.4°C and in Tiranges (Haute-Loire) with 40.6°C and in Puget-Théniers (Alpes-Maritimes), with 41.8°C. On Wednesday, two new all-time records were broken in the Alpes-Maritimes, in Cannes (39.1°C) and Mandelieu-la-Napoule (39.4°C). Records were fueled in Verdun and Serralongue, two towns that sit more than 500 meters above sea level in the Pyrenees valleys “a hair dryer effect”, explains Météo-France. It is created when an air mass is created suddenly gets hot after crossing a mountain range.

>> Climate: Is it hot or cold in each season? Compare today’s weather with temperature trends over decades

mountain records

Even at altitude we are suffocating and also on Tuesday absolute records were broken in several mountain resorts: in L’Alpe d’Huez (Isère), at 1,860 meters above sea level, at 29.5 °C, in Avrieux (Savoie), at 1,104 meters above sea level, where 36°C was measured, and in Saint-Martin-de-Belleville (Savoie) with 32.4°C at 1,500 meters above sea level.

In Corse-du-Sud it was 38.3°C in Renno on Tuesday, an absolute record for a maximum temperature at this weather station. In all of these communities, these records are 8°C to 11.9°C above normal for the season, according to the Meteorological Institute.

Other absolute records that need to be re-contextualized

Several cities set all-time records, but Météo-France takes their data with caution based on two criteria. The institute assumes that the data from weather stations that are at least 30 years old offer more perspective. Newer stations have nevertheless measured absolute records, even if they are not listed on the Franceinfo map, since they started their measurements less than 30 years ago. This is the case in the resorts of Tech-La Llau (Pyrénées-Orientales, opened in 2006) where 38.1°C was recorded, Belcaire (Aude, relocated in 2009) where the temperature was 36.4°C and Chamrousse ( Isère, opened in 2009). 2002) with 28.6°C.

In addition, Météo-France understands that the measurements of certain weather stations, which are rated less well according to the criteria of the World Meteorological Organization, may differ from the actual temperature by one degree Celsius. This is the case, for example, for the Castirla station (Haute-Corse), which is ranked 5th (the lowest value on a scale from 1 to 5), where an all-time high of 42.8°C was recorded on Tuesday.

Nine departments on alert

The south-east of France has been hit by a heat wave since Monday, crossing the west of the Mediterranean basin and also hitting Spain, Greece and Italy hard. Nine departments remain under orange vigilance as of Thursday: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Alpes-Maritimes, Bouches-du-Rhone, Corse-du-Sud, Haute-Corse, Gard, Herault, Var and Vaucluse. An orange alert, equivalent to a “High risk of fire”was triggered for forest fires in Bouches-du-Rhône, Var and Vaucluse for Thursday and Friday.

The monthly temperature records were clear on Tuesday in Aups (Var) with 38.6 °C, in Sampolo (Corse-du-Sud) with 38.1 °C and in Vauvenargues (Bouches-du-Rhône) with 37.3 °C exceeded °C, and on Wednesday in Montpellier (Hérault) with 37.6°C a high for the month of July.